PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY
Power Supply Meets Increasing Need for Down-Hole Power in Oil and Gas Exploration Ultra-reliable power supplies enable companies to power AC equipment up to five miles “down-hole” in even the most adverse field conditions. The Model BL1500 power supply from Behlman Electronics provides the highest levels of support for oil exploration, drilling, evaluation completion and intervention. Although the Behlman BL1500 has been helping oil-industry companies succeed for seventeen years, it has been continuously improved to keep up with the leading edge of exploration technology. As a result, no matter how old or new the exploration system, BL1500 is the appropriate choice for delivering ultra-reliable down-hole power. The Behlman BL1500 unit is powered from 115 VAC, 47-63 Hz and provides two ranges of high-voltage AC at 60 Hz. Units can be stacked for increased power. Protective circuits include input, short circuit, constant current and thermal protection. BL1500 power supplies have an RS-485 interface, allowing the unit to be controlled and monitored remotely from a central station. It operates from 32 to 131°F (0 to 55°C), and has a high-strength 19-inch rack mount chassis 3.5” high x 21.5” deep (48.25 cm wide x 7.87 cm high x 54.61 deep). Behlman Electronics, Hauppauge, NY. (631) 435-0410. [www.behlman.com].
Portable Data Acquisition System for Rugged, Remote Environments
21.5-Inch High Definition Rugged Video Mission Display
A highly accurate transient recorder technology is now available in a portable, ruggedized system for in-the-field measurements. Available with up to 24 channels and sample rates up to 240 MS/s, the flexible TraNET PPC from Elsys Instruments enables precise data acquisition from multiple points simultaneously. The new system combines Elsys’ high-speed, LAN-controlled instruments with a robust industrial PC for flexible data acquisition in a number of harsh and mission-critical environments, including power plant maintenance, electric traction engine testing, ballistics and explosive testing. The LAN connectivity enables reliable, standalone operation in remote applications as well, such as structural health verification on bridges and buildings, seismic activity monitoring or stray voltage detection from defective power lines. Channel configurations of 4, 8 and 12 are available in addition to the 24, depending on application needs. Each channel provides up to 128 Mbyte of acquisition memory. Different Elsys PCI/PCIe-compatible TPCX and TPCE digitizers comprise the heart of the TraNET PPC, depending on specific application needs. The modules offer a typical measurement precision of ±0.03% with transfer speeds of up to 2.5 Gbyte/s on the PCIe-compatible modules. These digitizers offer many features such as single-ended and differential inputs, large input voltage and offset ranges, advanced trigger capabilities with an external trigger, programmable anti-aliasing filters as well as ICP input for piezo sensors and digital inputs. The new TraNET PPC offers several different recording modes to address specific data requirements. Scope mode, similar to an oscilloscope, enables quick configuration of acquisition parameters for simply visualizing and analyzing single-shot events. Continuous mode acquires and writes data onto the internal hard disk at a high speed with no loss of data or dead times between events. Block mode divides the available onboard data acquisition memory into absolute or relative time-stamped blocks and is especially useful for capturing signal bursts where only relevant data needs to be recorded. The most sophisticated mode, Event Controlled Recording (ECR), provides “intelligent streaming” for troubleshooting and long-term monitoring applications. ECR uses smart trigger logic that allows adjacent channels to overlap, ensuring all relevant data is captured and eliminating dead time between triggers. In addition, every channel can acquire waveform data independently on trigger command as well as synchronously with associated channels. Pricing for a TraNET PPC starts at $13,500.
A rugged mission display for airborne platforms comes as a next generation video display with touchscreen and is designed for the most demanding helicopter and fixed wing applications. Featuring a wide array of digital and analog inputs, the AVDU5500 from Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Systems easily connects to the market’s leading electro-optical turrets, either directly or via any of Curtiss-Wright’s Skyquest VMS video distribution units. The AVDU5500 delivers full HD 1080p resolution and provides market-leading features and performance designed specifically for the demands of defense and law enforcement surveillance, search and rescue applications and the extended environmental characteristics demanded by airborne platforms. The AVDU5500 combines an array of video viewing options and visibility features. For example, the popular built-in “quad screen” option enables operators to view up to four independent live video images simultaneously from any of the multiple video sources sent to the display. The AVDU5500 uses advanced optical bonding techniques to ensure maximum visibility in bright sunshine conditions and improved ruggedness. As standard, the AVDU5500 utilizes a dual LED backlight for Night Vision Goggle (NVG) filtering purposes. When required, the display can be switched into NVG mode, which switches off the standard white backlight and turns on the NVG filtered backlighting, conforming to MIL-STD-3009 NVIS B. This gives the user full color, high brightness imagery usable with direct sunlight during daylight operations, as well as perfectly filtered imagery for NVG operations at night. All other display bezel lighting is also NVG filtered as standard. The AVDU5500 is designed to provide airborne operators with the greatest amount of flexibility and control. The display’s 5-wire resistive touchscreen can be customized to operate with any of today’s leading digital moving maps. A wide array of I/O options, including USB, Ethernet and RS-422/232, enable the AVDU5500 to interface with peripheral equipment. Its eight “hard” bezel keys located at the bottom of the display, control core display functions such as power on/off, brightness and channel selection. With a single keystroke, user-definable, touchscreen-operated “soft” keys can be displayed around the perimeter of the display overlaid on the video. The functions controlled by these soft keys can be defined at the factory and include a range of standard options including Skyquest video recorder control, Picture-in-Picture selection and Quad View.
Elsys Instruments, Monroe, NY. (845) 238-3933. [www.elsys-instruments.com].
Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions, Ashburn, VA. (613) 254-5112. [www.cwcdefense.com]. RTC MAGAZINE APRIL 2013
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